City Stars was a football club from Lahti in Finland. The club was formed in 1982 and their home ground is at the Kisapuiston kenttä. The team last plays in the Kakkonen (Second Division). The Head coach was to this time Petri Järvinen.

City Stars
Full nameCity Stars
Founded1982; 42 years ago (1982)
GroundKisapuiston kenttä,
Lahti
Finland
Capacity4,000
ManagerPetri Järvinen
CoachPetri Haapsaari (GK)
LeagueKakkonen
20091st – Kolmonen (Helsinki and Uusimaa)

History

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City Stars spent many seasons in the lower divisions of the Finnish football league following their formation in 1982. The year 2006 saw a huge change in fortunes when they won Section 2 of the Kolmonen (Helsinki and Uusimaa). The team then won the promotion play-off group to seal promotion.[1]

In early 2007 City Stars became part of the Lahti club, FC Kuusysi, and established their own business unit within the organisation. At the same time City Stars received support from Petri Pasanen, the Finnish international, and Kari Kangasaho, the Kuusysi coach. In 2007–2008 seasons the club also formed a cooperative link with FC Lahti.

City Stars played two seasons in the Kakkonen (Second Division), the third tier of Finnish football from 2007 to 2008 before relegation back to the Kolmonen (Third Division). Their stay at the lower level was short-lived as another promotion in 2009 saw them back in the Kakkonen for 2010 after narrowly beating local rivals Salpausselän Reipas by 2 points.[2]

City Stars have fine reputation as a good cup team, especially in the Finnish Cup (Suomen Cup). In the 2009 competition they battled their way through to quarter finals before losing 0–3 to FC Honka.

City Stars are proud to take part in the Uusi Lahti Cup tournament. In 2007 they beat Estonian first division club FC Levadia Tallinn and were ranked in positions 5–6. In 2008, the team reached a similar position by winning a penalty shoot-out against JJK Jyväskylä from the (First Division). In 2010 the team lost 3–0 to HJK Helsinki in the quarter-finals but beat PoPa Pori 2–1 in the ranking match.

FC Kuusysi

Season to season

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Season Level Division Section Administration Position Movements
2000 Tier 5 Nelonen (Fourth Division) Section 2 Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 1st Promoted
2001 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 3 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Helsinki)
2002 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 3 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Helsinki) 3rd
2003 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 2 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 3rd
2004 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 2 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 2nd
2005 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 2 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 1st Play-offs
2006 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 2 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 1st Promoted
2007 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 5th
2008 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto) 12th Relegated
2009 Tier 4 Kolmonen (Third Division) Section 3 Helsinki & Uusimaa (SPL Uusimaa) 1st Promoted
2010 Tier 3 Kakkonen (Second Division) Group A Finnish FA (Suomen Pallolitto)

Club structure

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City Stars is part of the FC Kuusysi structure which has 1 men's team, 1 veteran's team, 1 ladies team, 1 disability team, 15 boys teams and 9 girls teams.

2010 season

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City Stars are competing in Group A (Lohko A) of the Kakkonen administered by the Football Association of Finland (Suomen Palloliitto) . This is the third highest tier in the Finnish football system. In 2009 City Stars finished in first position in their Kolmonen (Third Division) section and were promoted to the Kakkonen..

References and sources

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Finland 2006". RSSSF. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  2. ^ "Finland – Divisional Movements 1930–2009". RSSSF. 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-20.